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Previous Apple engineer, Andy Rubin went on to co-found mobile computing outfits Danger and Android. He sold the former to Microsoft and the latter to Google, where he is now vice president of engineering. He’s also the guy quarterbacking development of Google’s Android mobile operating system and the Nexus One–the Smartphone with which Google hopes to fundamentally change the way people buy cell phones.

In conversation with All Things Digital’s Walt Mossberg Friday, Rubin talked about the mobile space, Google’s plan for an enterprise version of the Nexus One, and its vision for the way phones should be bought and sold. Walt starts off by asking Rubin about just how involved Google was in the development of the Nexus One.

Rubin replies, “We threw out crazy ideas to our partners at HTC, and they were pretty good about plucking the good ones out of the air and building them into the device.”

Walt asks about the new business model Google’s launched in concert with Nexus One. Was this something the company planned all along?

“This is the next phase of Android–taking the newest versions of the product, placing them online, and allowing consumers to purchase them directly,” says Rubin. “What we’ve learned is that there are more efficient ways of connecting consumers with the phones they’d like to purchase…easier ways.” Purchasing a Nexus One through Google, says Rubin, is a casual process. “No one’s breathing down your neck,” he says. “No one’s trying to upsell you.”

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In case you have had a hard time looking for a socket to charge your iPhone and iPods, Novothink’s Solar Surge Charger, the first solar charger officially licensed by Apple, is the answer for you. This interesting device integrates a full-fledged solar panel on the back for iPhone and iPod energy recharge via solar energy. The custom designed solar panel is able to output 55V at 100mAh in full sunlight. The tiny LED status indicators will let you know the progress of your charge. If you worry about the bad and cloudy weather or the onslaught of night affecting you from getting your phones charged, you can still connect the phone via a USB cable for normal charging.

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The good: The LG enV Touch has two beautiful displays, a nice touch-screen interface, and a great QWERTY keyboard. It has impressive features, such as a 3.2-megapixel camera, EV-DO Rev. A, and a full HTML Web browser.

The bad: The LG enV Touch’s touch-screen interface could use some refinement, and the Web browser experience is not as smooth as we would like. Visual Voice Mail and corporate e-mail support costs additional monthly fees. The lack of Wi-Fi is disappointing.

The bottom line: The LG enV Touch’s combination of great design and top-notch features makes it one of the top Verizon Wireless Wireless phones we’ve ever seen.

Specifications: Band / mode: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 ; Talk time: Up to 260 min ; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player ; See full specs

Review

The LG enV Touch was a surprise to us. We thought all of the enV line of phones would be in the style of the LG enV VX9900, the LG enV2, and the more recent LG enV3.Those phones had numeric keypads on the front, with QWERTY keyboards behind their flip designs. But it appears that the LG enV Touch is actually a successor to the Voyager VX10000, due to its full touch screen-interface. Perhaps Verizon and LG are going back to the enV name to reinforce its association with high-end messaging phones.

We gave the LG Voyager VX10000 an Editors’ Choice award when it first launched, but it has been almost two years since then, so it’s about time for an upgrade. The LG enV Touch definitely offers better design and features. Both the touch-screen and internal displays are bigger, the keyboard has a better layout, the 3.2-megapixel camera has more advanced settings, the 3.5mm headset jack accommodates your own headphones, EV-DO Rev. A offers faster Web browsing, and more. The enV Touch doesn’t have V Cast Mobile TV like the Voyager did, but that’s about the only thing missing with this upgrade. Perhaps our only complaints were that the touch-screen interface and Web browsing could use some refinements, and the lack of Wi-Fi was disappointing.

The LG enV Touch is available for $149.99 with a $70 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement, which isn’t too expensive for what you’re getting.

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The latest rumor making the rounds around the mobile industry seems to be emanating from the Nokia camp. Reports have been going around of Nokia possibly developing a smaller version of their N97 Communicator like touchscreen handset that recently made its big debut.

Aside from, just rumors, a few sources actually have images showcasing the handset as well. The smaller version appears to have the same slide out QWERTY keyboard sans the nav-pad and a camera (possibly lower resolution) with a dual LED flash but without a lens cover. The touch screen display looks only a little smaller presumably about 2.8-inches is what I’m thinking.

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